Why do we buy so much food?

Gers

 I can trump you all with OOD food - earlier this year I cleared out a huge amount of food from my DM's place - she has since died - and posted on the Declutter thread about a packet of St Michael food with BB end of 1993 with an even earlier packet of dried food dated to be used by November 1990.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6224658/2021-mission-declutter-and-clean/p212

Sheer madness!

GSDMum

Gers said:

 I can trump you all with OOD food - earlier this year I cleared out a huge amount of food from my DM's place - she has since died - and posted on the Declutter thread about a packet of St Michael food with BB end of 1993 with an even earlier packet of dried food dated to be used by November 1990.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6224658/2021-mission-declutter-and-clean/p212

Sheer madness!

Bless her! That's the war time spirit! Went to see my old Dad who'd been painting something green and he had some paint left over, so instead of 'wasting' the paint he decided it would be a good idea to paint his breadbin green, both inside and out! Nothing got wasted! 

goldfinches

-taff said:

I buy it because I like to experiment with different foods, spices or flavours. I don't very often get rid of anything that's out of date, I used up a tin of mandarins the other day I'd brought with me when we moved in, it was a few years past it's date but fine. I also buy things on whim that I MIGHT cook, so there's two tins of pie filling I haven't used yet. I had a hankering for the kind of tinned cherry pies we had in the eighties, but I didn't get round to making one. It will all get used bar the odd one or two things, it just might take a while.

I could have written the above almost word for word and agree entirely with the buying things one might cook. If I've been reading recipes, which I do often, and then spot an ingredient that I don't regularly see I will snap it up in order to have it in my larder. I find it very frustrating that items go in and out of stock unpredictably in supermarkets and so frequently stock up on things that have been hard to track down previously. 
I don't generally pay much attention to the use by dates and during lockdown 1 made use of some dried yeast sachets that were very elderly and needed a longer rise but were otherwise fine.
There's also the point that living alone means that one needs to plan for a sudden bad back/sprained ankle etc. 
I would quite happily cook the kidney beans provided they tasted nice and would enjoy finding recipes to use them up.

Rosa_Damascena

It's not just food, it's EVERYTHING. I have had the pleasure of emptying the kitchen and it has taken hours. It was all tidily stored away which is why I didn't realise just how much there is. Kitchen gadgets of every description "just in case", and stacks of bakeware for the odd occasion I make a cake. Most excess purchases were from the chazzer 

Brambling

Rosa_Damascena said:

It's not just food, it's EVERYTHING. I have had the pleasure of emptying the kitchen and it has taken hours. It was all tidily stored away which is why I didn't realise just how much there is. Kitchen gadgets of every description "just in case", and stacks of bakeware for the odd occasion I make a cake. Most excess purchases were from the chazzer 

When I redid my kitchen I stored some of the 'stuff' in boxes upstairs and what hadn't been needed in a year was sent to a charity shop as obviously not needed

I'm the same as Taff and Goldfinches when it comes to buying food/ cooking I like to cook and I like to experiment but cooking for one can also mean a well stocked cupboard so not to get bored with the same thing. My nephews joke that I can supply most ingredients if they run short or just need a spoonful of a certain ingredient  

I was brought up my older parents who married in 1940 so my mum had a store cupboard just in case rationing came back we were also poor so when there was a little extra cash she would buy a little extra for when it was tight. So for me it's also a little bit of learnt behaviour (my sisters are the same) 

Pollycat

I think there's a difference between people having a large and varied stock of food because they like to cook and the OP who says she doesn't cook.

I don't bake so I don't have a mixer (I do have a food processor) and I don't have lots of baking tins.

I don't like a cluttered worktop so all my stuff (slow cooker, steamer) are in cupboards but very easily accessible.

I don't see an issue with having lots of kitchenalia if it's stored away - especially if it has come from a charity shop and hasn't cost much.

MrsStepford

Pantry items are divided up into 2021, 2022 and 2023+ We check 2021 stuff regularly. Basically it's a waste of food, not to keep an eye on dates. My mother had a bottle of spring water from Monchique (Algarve) in her fridge for 30 years !

If you don't cook, is it because you never learned or don't like cooking ? Have you seen James May's series about learning to cook, on Amazon ? Also, I think Jamie Oliver did a series on learning to cook, which might be on YouTube.

Why learn to cook ?

1. It puts you in control of what goes into your mouth re: additives, preservatives, dodgy meat etc
2. Mentally, it's pleasing to eat something edible which you cooked
3. It builds confidence
4. It's gratifying to cook for friends/family and see that they have genuinely enjoyed what you've cooked and that you have surprised them
5. You can get better and branch into other cuisines
6. It will often save you money
7. If you batch cook and freeze meals, you can reheat when you are short of time or knackered
8. If you have kids, they are more likely to want to cook themselves, later
9. You will learn more about how the food you eat is grown/reared/caught/processed be it lamb, prawns,lentils, tofu, cheese, peas and you can make more choices
10. Cutting out the ready meals, takeaways, fast food will save you money and you will lose weight

Siebrie

Pollycat said:

The only thing I've bought that is a waste is some muesli from Aldi. I picked it up by mistake instead of my usual granola.

The birds are working their way through it.

You can easily turn muesli into granola: pick out any raisins and keep separate. Mix any oil (apart from olive) and some honey, add muesli, pop in oven for about 30 mins at 160C, stir occasionally. Cool, stir in raisins, store in container. Keeps its crunch for about 2 weeks. (I make weekly smaller batches)

Rosa_Damascena

MrsStepford said:

If you don't cook, is it because you never learned or don't like cooking ? Have you seen James May's series about learning to cook, on Amazon ? Also, I think Jamie Oliver did a series on learning to cook, which might be on YouTube.

Why learn to cook ?

1. It puts you in control of what goes into your mouth re: additives, preservatives, dodgy meat etc
2. Mentally, it's pleasing to eat something edible which you cooked
3. It builds confidence
4. It's gratifying to cook for friends/family and see that they have genuinely enjoyed what you've cooked and that you have surprised them
5. You can get better and branch into other cuisines
6. It will often save you money
7. If you batch cook and freeze meals, you can reheat when you are short of time or knackered
8. If you have kids, they are more likely to want to cook themselves, later
9. You will learn more about how the food you eat is grown/reared/caught/processed be it lamb, prawns,lentils, tofu, cheese, peas and you can make more choices
10. Cutting out the ready meals, takeaways, fast food will save you money and you will lose weight

I know very well how to cook. What I don't do is cook regularly, perhaps once every 3 weeks or so if that. This is completely down to my hyperosmia, I cannot bear smells. I am happy eating cold food that requires little prep and is often healthier than cooked items. In fact as long as my tea, coffee and sugar needs are met I'm generally happy until the evenings.

I'd rather spend my evenings getting some exercise.

twopenny

I'd love to know why I'm always buying food.

Though habits from when I worked in always having enough food for 6 weeks (apart from fresh) so I didn't spend my time shopping seems to have stuck.

But I think we're now overindulged in that we can eat what we fancy on the day - rather than what's in the cupboard/freezer and everything is on tap very near to you by car.

It's horrifying looking at what you have and realise you could go at least a month, probably 2 or 3 with a wide variety and never visit a shop.